Floating floor systems are known in the art. In existing floating floor systems, the floor panels are typically interlocked together via chemical adhesion. For example, the floor panels of existing floating floor systems generally comprise a lower lateral flange and an upper lateral flange extending from opposite sides of the floor panel body. At least one of the upper and/or lower lateral flanges has an exposed adhesive applied thereto. In assembling/installing such a floating floor system, the lower flanges of the floor panels are overlaid by the upper flanges of adjacent ones of the floor panels. As a result, the exposed adhesive interlocks the upper and lower flanges of the adjacent floor panels together. The assembly/installation process is continued until the entire desired area of the sub-floor is covered.
Recently, attempts have been undertaken to develop floating floor systems in which the floor panels mechanically interlock. One known mechanical interlocking floating floor system utilizes teeth and tooth slots on the upper and lower flanges respectively that mate with one another to create a horizontal interlock between the floor panels. One problem, with these existing mechanical interlocking systems is that the teeth are not easily alignable with the slots, thereby making the installation/assembly process difficult. Additionally, these mechanical interlock systems are limited to providing horizontal locking and, thus, ledging between adjacent floor panels can become an issue.
It is generally known in the art that floorboards with a wood based core may be provided with a mechanical locking system and methods of assembling such floorboards by angle-angle, angle-snap or vertical folding. Floor panels of resilient material, such as LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) are traditionally glued down to the subfloor or bonded at the edges to each other.
The known methods of assembling floorboards with a wood based core that are mentioned above are difficult to use when assembling resilient floor panels, as resilient floor panes are not rigid and have a thin profile, thereby allowing the floor panels to be easily bent. Thus, the use of the angle-angle method is difficult. In addition, the use of the angle-snap method is rendered impracticable since it requires a force to be applied at an opposite edge in relation to the edge of the floor panel which is intended to be connected, by e.g. a hammer and a tapping block, and the resilient core of the resilient floor panel absorbs the applied force and will likely undergo some damage which may be visually undesirable for an end user. The known vertical folding methods are also difficult to apply due to the increased flexibility of the resilient floor pane allowing the resilient floor panels to disengage more easily than a rigid based floorboard using the same method.
The angled type of a lock on the long side, the short side, or both is significantly more difficult to install than a lock that can be pushed down or snapped down vertically. However, the vertical fold or push down type locks currently in the market can easily pop open or exhibit “ledging” on square edge products due to subfloor irregularities or any significant relative vertical movement between two locked planks.
The issue with ledging is becoming increasingly pronounced, as do-it-yourself (DIY) type products need to have a square edge (and not a beveled edge) because these products must be price competitive, which means that the DIY products cannot have a thick wear layer which is needed for a beveled edge product. Consequently, a square edged DIY product is needed in which the risk of ledging or popping open is minimized or essentially eliminated. Therefore, one benefit of this invention is that it makes it possible for a DIY type product with a thin wear layer to have square edges without the risk of ledging or popping open.
Thus, a need exists for an improved floating floor system, floor panel, and method of installing the same that utilizes a mechanical interlocking system. Such a need is especially felt for resilient floor panels, such as LVT panels.